Isha Sesay
MORE than 80% of bars and restaurants in Mallorca have been forced to close under the tougher Level 4 coronavirus restrictions.
That’s the stark figure made by the Association of Small to Medium Sized Businesses (PINEM) after surveying how many of its members would remain open under the new measures introduced yesterday.
These included an order that all bars and restaurants must close by 6pm every day.
The use of interior areas is also strictly prohibited with terraces being further reduced to a 25% capacity.
Armengol said that the new restrictions were ‘necessary’ as the risk of infection in Mallorca ‘continues to be extreme’.
However, PINEM has described the measures as ‘catastrophic’ and ‘brutal’, predicting that many businesses may be forced to close permanently.
They explained that approximately 80% of restaurants in Mallorca do not have a terrace so therefore can not open under Level 4.
Even those businesses in the remaining 20% have chosen to close their doors ‘as staying open is not a viable choice’.
PINEM has asked that the Balearic government does more to help since more than 20,000 jobs have already been lost in the sector this year due to the pandemic.
Meanwhile, the government has sent a warning to all bars and restaurants on the island.
They said that businesses that fail to follow the new rules could receive a fine up to €600,000.
This was previously seta t a maximum of €60,000.
